ESPN's 2015 subscriber losses triggered an 11-year era where almost every traditional media company, with the exception of Disney, has consolidated or restructured chaotically to survive the streaming and tech era.

(03:01:35) cash flows that they believe today. >> Yep. Well, we're about to talk about what happens to the whole rest of the traditional media landscape after this earnings call. >> Yeah. Disney managed to stay independent. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, that moment kicks off I really don't know how to say it other than the most insane period of panicked frenzy in media landscape history. I mean, maybe in any industry's history.

(03:02:08) Basically, everyone in the TV and film landscape decides all at once that they need to take dramatic action to respond to cord cutting and the rise of streaming. So, over the next couple years, Time Warner sells itself to AT&T. AT&T changes its mind, spins out Time Warner, [laughter] which then merges with Discovery. Viacom remerges with CBS, but none of those brands are any good. So, they decide to

(03:02:40) name themselves Paramount after the studio that they own. Paramount almost collapses under its debt load and David and Larry Ellison. Yes, of course, that Larry Ellison buy it and merge it into Sky Dance Media. So, it becomes Sky Dance Paramount, >> which is the thing that David Ellison kind of founded and runs. >> Yep. And then of course this all culminates in what's happening here real time here in 2026 where Warner Brothers

(03:03:08) Discovery almost gets bought by Netflix and instead looks like it's getting merged into the Paramount Sky Dance fever dream. So like it's insanity out there. >> Well now on hold pending legal challenges as of recording date. So we'll see. But what's really happening is that all of these traditional media companies, with the exception of Disney, have basically all become kind of surfs in the streaming kingdoms of the technology